Car Lifts

[Valeria H.]

I am looking to buy and place a car lift into my 3 car garage. Are there any suggestions about lifts? I really care about my cars and do not want to take a chance on a lift that does not work 100% of the time.
Valeria

[Joel T.]

Re: Car Lifts

I am looking to buy and place a car lift into my 3 car garage. Are there any suggestions about lifts? I really care about my cars and do not want to take a chance on a lift that does not work 100% of the time.
Valeria

Val...

Are you looking to stack them or work on them? In my garage I do not have enough head room to stack, so a four poster or two poster made no sense. I did buy a Quik Lift which is essentially a set of heavy duty ramps you drive up and then level out with a floor jack so that you can work underneath... Cheaper than the alternatives. They work well and I use them not only for the vintage cars but also for working on the rest of the "fleet".

Joel

[Bill M.]

Re: Car Lifts

Val
I have 2 lifts in my garage. First i bought a 2 post lift for storage and repairs. I bought it from Auto Lifters of America great lift and very easy to instal. Unfortunatly they are out of business. I just bought a 4 post lift and plan to usit mostly for storage. Let me tell you the thing weighs a ton and i used a ten foot tall A frame to assemble the unit. It is a lot quicker for storage as you do not have to fool with the arms. It will be great for tranny work but i will not bother with suspensin work as it looks to be a pain to use the jack adapter. hope this helps . Bill

[Terry D.]

Re: Car Lifts

Valerie
Check the archives, lifts are a personal preference thing. What is good to someone is not good for everyone. It depends on what you want to do with it. If it is mostly for storage, that's one thing. If you plan on actually working on your cars that's another. Don't buy according to price, you usually get what you pay for.

Terry

[Carl B.]

Re: Car Lifts

how tall is your ceiling,concrete floor thickness mohawk full hydraulic needs 6 inch floor and 12ft ceiling heavy duty latches to lock arms in place. when it snows I have my Mustang on the lift and wifes Buick parked the underneath trust it completely Carl

[Bruce B.]

Re: Car Lifts

I have a 2 post Autolifters lift and it has been a great asset for me.
As noted they have been bought out by someone which has no affect on my lift as it works flawlessly.
I have stored my 65 coupe on this lift over the winter and it worked out fine.
I would not store a C1 for any length of time as I can see the body flex when the car is lifted up. The door gaps open up some.
I have had my 57 on it for weeks at a time with no problems from the body flexing.
If storage is the main reason for buying the lift, a 4 post is the way to go, Backyard Buddy makes a good quality lift. I also know people who have lifts from Greg Smith Equipment and although lower in cost they are made well.

[Paul J.]

Re: Car Lifts

Valeria, I think the guys are not being descriptive enough for you. A four post lift still has the weight of the car on the wheels, so its only good for working under the car or for storage. If you work on the brakes, or the wheels, or rotate the tires, the four post lift is worthless. It might even be a hinderance since you need a jack on a level floor and the lift could get in the way.

The two post lift does'nt have these problems, but there is the issue of flexing that Bruce mentioned. There is also a balancing issue as the car is only supported near the center. While a car falling off a lift is very rare, I've seen it happen. Two post lifts also create a "dead" zone of access to the sides of the car.

Everyone I've ever talked to with a lift loves it. My shop was designed for a two post lift, but I did'nt install one because of the access issues.

The cost was another issue as you just don't need to use a lift that often. Even in our part time shop doing oil changes, brake and suspension work, and motor repairs, jacks, jack stands, and blocks are more than sufficient.

Paul

[John G.]

Re: Car Lifts

I have a Direct Lift in my shop. My wife gave it to me for xmas. Used it to restore my '61, even the body lift. Don't know how I'd have done without it. Local dealers even erect and install, although I installed mine.
Ask Jack P. how he liked it.

John G.

[James N.]

Re: Car Lifts

I have a Direct Lift in my shop. My wife gave it to me for xmas. Used it to restore my '61, even the body lift. Don't know how I'd have done without it. Local dealers even erect and install, although I installed mine.
Ask Jack P. how he liked it.

John G.

I also went with Direct Lift. I recommend it, it has performed well for me for about 10 years. After I put it together and got it where I wanted it, I raised it to the normal heigth that I would use it then measured the distance at each corner from the post base plate, inside the open side of the post, to the bottom of the cross member that holds the ramp......70 some inches I think. Went down to the metal yard and bought 1/4 inch square stock, 3 inch square I think, measured to fit under each corner. Checked the fit, then had them powder coated satin black to match the lift. Now when there's a car on the lift, for storage or when working under the lift standing up, I have the added safety of my posts under the cross members at each corner. Don't have to totally rely on the metal tabs welded to the posts for ramp support. If you know what I mean......

[Bob S.]

Re: Car Lifts

I love my Rotary four post lift. Bought it used off Craiglist w/in 0.5 mile from our house (3 years ago). I did all the assembly/installation myself.

Although, as others have said a 2 post is better for working on cars, I use mine for working too. When working on a smaller car, I find it particularly nice to raise it to one of the lower lift stops so I'm not continually bending over so far while "under the hood" (I'm 6'2").

Also check out what parts of any lift you consider are steel vs plastic.....like others have said "you get what you pay for".

To get more opinions, you might also check out some enthusist sites for some other car makes and search for "lifts".

Bob

[James B.]

Re: Car Lifts

Look at the MaxJax lift. Portable unit two post.

[Dick W.]

Re: Car Lifts

Valeria, if you are coming to the chapter tech session tomorrow, I can show you some lifts and explain the difference and the quality.

No matter what you buy, I would not have a lift that is not ALI certified. PERIOD

[Phil D.]

Re: Car Lifts

I'll add a third recommendation for Direct Lift. I bought mine from a local company and had them install it. As for the comment about them being worthless for brake and suspension work, I also recommend buying a set (two) sliding scissor jacks to go with it as I did. Then you can also lift the wheels off the ramps and do anything you could do with two-post lift, well nearly anyway.